Roger Craig, TIBCO tell Raiders fans 'Just click, baby'

PALO ALTO — With a nod toward franchise tradition and a shift toward cutting-edge technology, a new mobile app aims to redefine what it means to be part of Raider Nation.

Just click, baby.

Released earlier this month, the Raiders app has already been downloaded more than 100,000 times.

For this launch, the Raiders partnered with TIBCO Software, Inc. of Palo Alto, the company behind the highly successful Golden State Warriors app that hit the market last year.

"I would say now more than ever, we're looking to use technology to deliver a better experience for our fans,'' said Matthew Pasco, the Raiders director of information technology. "We told TIBCO to take their time and release something really polished for the 2013 season. They put a great team together and did that."

The Raiders concluded that innovations such as the unique location-and-activity awareness feature made the app worth the wait.

Wen Miao, a TIBCO executive, said the goal was to "re-imagine the Raider fans as a social network and extend the Raider Nation fan experience everywhere in the world." Just as important was providing relevant content in real time. "And not just on game days,'' Miao said. "Fans are rewarded every day for being part of the Raider Nation."

The result is an app that fans can customize depending on whether they live near Hegenberger Road or across the globe. It sends personalized real-time notifications regarding ticket offers, social updates — even parking information — all based on what each fan likes and dislikes. The app also adjusts for what inventory is available and what special offers and content would be most relevant to the fan.

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A fan within walking distance of a Raider Image store might get an alert for a discount offer on a jersey, right there on the spot. But the app also knows if they're walking or driving on a nearby freeway, so it won't bother them behind the wheel. The location feature also enables Raiders sponsors to serve relevant ads based on wherever the fan happens to be.

"Raiders fans are very passionate about their team,'' said Roger Craig, the former NFL running back now serving as vice president / business development at TIBCO.

Craig helped get this partnership rolling. He spent just one season with the Raiders, in 1991, but kept close ties with the long-time staffers. Craig still treasures the relationship he had with Al Davis, the late owner, whom he said "brought a coolness to the team."

"Now, I think Mark (Davis) is doing a great job of trying to find his own identity,'' he said. "The Raiders were moving toward this technology anyway. TIBCO just helped them move the needle."

Craig was part of a major innovation during his NFL days. Playing under the creative 49ers coach Bill Walsh, the running back became the first player to amass 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season, a milestone that helped paved the way for other dual-threat backs like Marshall Faulk, Brian Westbrook and LaDanian Tomlinson.

These days, Craig says he sees the same visionary traits in TIBCO founder Vivek Ranadive that he once saw in Walsh. Of the new Raiders app, Craig said, "This is our space. TIBCO's DNA is integration. That's us. That's what we're all about and we do it better than anyone."

The app is free. To get the premium content, users sign into the Raider Nation Fan Zone, by providing the Raiders with an email address or sign in through Facebook. Miao, the Global Head of TIBCO's Client Technical Services, said the information helps personalize the user experience for the fans, sending relevant content, offers, and alerts all in real-time anywhere in the world. "With the app's unique Fan Manager backend, the Raiders can now continuously engage their fans with exciting content while they have fun using this app to interact with their favorite team."

A fan who buys single-game tickets, for example, might get an alert with a discount on a package of seats to an upcoming game. The Raiders are now offering 20 percent off at Raider Image for anyone who downloads the app and presents it at a Raider Image store.

The app also offers basic information such as up-to-the-minute depth charts, news updates, transactions, Raiderette profiles and other information for the hard-core fan.

The high tech features leave room for at least one old school element. As a salute to Al Davis, these are the three words that greet fans looking to download the app: "Just win, baby."

"That came from me, because I know how important it is to Al Davis,'' Craig said with a laugh. "That is what I kept saying to our engineers: 'Be sure to put Just Win Baby on that app because that's Al Davis' slogan and everybody relates to that.'

"It reminds people who Al Davis was. That was his thing. I had to have that on there. That was a must for Raider Nation."